Nearpod is a diverse, educational app that can be used on both tablets and PCs. It allows teachers a variety of options when it comes to teaching a lesson. This app provides interactive presentations, tests, quizzes, polls, and videos, which students can follow along with and participate on their own personal devices. Not only can teachers create their own presentations and tests, but they can also purchase pre-made lectures and lessons that other professionals have already made. These single lessons can range from $2.99, to complete textbooks and bundles of lessons at $99.99.
How to download and set up the Nearpod app: 1) Go to the App Store on your apple device 2) Search "Nearpod" and press on the free+ button 3) When the app has downloaded, open it on your device 4) Create a new Nearpod account or use an existing Google account to sign in
Creating a Nearpod When it comes to creating a Nearpod the possibilities are endless, however there are some generalizations to get you started. These options are content, web content, and activity.
Activity: -Open ended question -Poll -Quiz -Draw it
Depending on what your focus is for your audience, there are many options for you to begin creating your Nearpod. To create a general presentation or lecture, you would probably want to use the slideshow or slide option. To gather information quickly from your audience, the poll option would work best. To quiz or test your audience on knowledge that they were just taught, you would want you use the quiz option. Another useful tool in Nearpod is the ability to upload a previously made slideshow. Use the “Slideshow” option to upload your presentation, then you can edit it to make it more engaging for your audience.
To create a live session with students (teacher): 1) Open the presentation you wish to share 2) Click on “More” and then “Live Session” 3) Give students the PIN number to join
To join a live session (students): 1) Open the nearpod app 2) Hit “Join” and enter the PIN code given 3) Enter your name
An example of what a pin code will look like for a live session
While going through the presentation, the master iPad (teacher) can view the student’s progress. This gives a quick representation of a student’s understanding. The app displays which students are finished answering the question, and which aren’t. If you are using the Nearpod as an evaluation piece, you can view student’s answers in either “reports” or by “resuming” the session, after the presentation is over.
Pre-Made Nearpods: There are many presentations that professionals have already created and published online, these range for a variety of topics. To search for a Nearpod, open up the app and hit “Explore”, when the app redirects you to safari, click on the tag symbol in the upper right-hand corner. Here you will find a range of categories: - Subject - Price - Grade - Publisher / Author
The categories you will be seeing on your screen as you search for a pre-made Nearpod
To search a specific topic, hit the magnifying glass icon right next to the tag to access the search bar.
To publish your Nearpod for the rest of the world to see, simply hit “publish”. To share a presentation that you have created with others, you can do this via Facebook, Twitter, email, or Google.
All in all, Nearpod is an app that I highly recommend for all teachers and students. Not only is it a quick and effective way of getting feedback of a student’s understanding, but it is also an engaging and interactive way to teach in the classroom.
Classroom Example:
The following link is a Nearpod that I made for a grade nine math class. It includes three word problems for solving linear equations, and students are able to draw their answers on the slides which are then sent directly to the teacher. The feedback of their understanding of linear equations was quick for the teacher and gave them the results that they needed to decide how well the class was learning the topic.
How to download and set up the Nearpod app:
1) Go to the App Store on your apple device
2) Search "Nearpod" and press on the free+ button
3) When the app has downloaded, open it on your device
4) Create a new Nearpod account or use an existing Google account to sign in
Creating a Nearpod
When it comes to creating a Nearpod the possibilities are endless, however there are some generalizations to get you started. These options are content, web content, and activity.
Content:
- Slide
- Video
- Audio
- Slideshow
- PDF
- Live twitter stream
- Webpage (web content)
Activity:
- Open ended question
- Poll
- Quiz
- Draw it
Depending on what your focus is for your audience, there are many options for you to begin creating your Nearpod. To create a general presentation or lecture, you would probably want to use the slideshow or slide option. To gather information quickly from your audience, the poll option would work best. To quiz or test your audience on knowledge that they were just taught, you would want you use the quiz option. Another useful tool in Nearpod is the ability to upload a previously made slideshow. Use the “Slideshow” option to upload your presentation, then you can edit it to make it more engaging for your audience.
To create a live session with students (teacher):
1) Open the presentation you wish to share
2) Click on “More” and then “Live Session”
3) Give students the PIN number to join
To join a live session (students):
1) Open the nearpod app
2) Hit “Join” and enter the PIN code given
3) Enter your name
While going through the presentation, the master iPad (teacher) can view the student’s progress. This gives a quick representation of a student’s understanding. The app displays which students are finished answering the question, and which aren’t. If you are using the Nearpod as an evaluation piece, you can view student’s answers in either “reports” or by “resuming” the session, after the presentation is over.
Pre-Made Nearpods:
There are many presentations that professionals have already created and published online, these range for a variety of topics. To search for a Nearpod, open up the app and hit “Explore”, when the app redirects you to safari, click on the tag symbol in the upper right-hand corner. Here you will find a range of categories:
- Subject
- Price
- Grade
- Publisher / Author
To search a specific topic, hit the magnifying glass icon right next to the tag to access the search bar.
To publish your Nearpod for the rest of the world to see, simply hit “publish”. To share a presentation that you have created with others, you can do this via Facebook, Twitter, email, or Google.
All in all, Nearpod is an app that I highly recommend for all teachers and students. Not only is it a quick and effective way of getting feedback of a student’s understanding, but it is also an engaging and interactive way to teach in the classroom.
Classroom Example:
The following link is a Nearpod that I made for a grade nine math class. It includes three word problems for solving linear equations, and students are able to draw their answers on the slides which are then sent directly to the teacher. The feedback of their understanding of linear equations was quick for the teacher and gave them the results that they needed to decide how well the class was learning the topic.
http://np1.nearpod.com/sharePresentation.php?code=c7b09ae2b0de5320a88ba7b1916de70b-0